Introduction

The Deer Initiative

Road traffic accidents involving deer have presented a major and under-recognised problem in Britain for many years. Increases in both the numbers and distribution of deer in Britain, combined with a continuing rise in traffic volume, means that this problem will continue to worsen unless action is taken now. Until the Deer Initiative began this work on behalf of the Highways Agency, there was no system for central collection of data on road traffic accidents involving deer. This lack of information has posed a major handicap to effective management of deer on our roads.

We have collected reports on over 30,500 Deer-Vehicle Collisions (DVCs)  occurring in Britain between January 2000 and December 2005, of which 24,500 reports were from England and 6,060 from Scotland. Our sources included the Police, Local Authorities, Motor Insurance Companies, Trunk Road Maintenance Agents, Council Road Cleansing Departments responsible for clearance of carcasses, RSPCA and other animal welfare organisations. Additional information was provided by those involved in dispatch of injured deer or clearance of carcasses from their own area, such as the Forestry Commission, MoD, the National Trust and private estates. Finally, members of wildlife organisations and the general public were asked to report any deer vehicle incidents or dead deer seen at roadside via a dedicated website www.deercollisions.co.uk by email or post.

Our data provides a far larger sample of DVCs than has been available to any previous assessment of the deer collisions issue in Britain. It is clear however, that even our large annual samples of incidents represent merely a small proportion (most likely less than 20%) of all deer road kills or related incidents nationwide. Estimates of DVCs based on the levels of overlap between deer related incidents reported by differing independent sources indicate that the true toll of DVCs may well exceed 60,000 per year in England alone, and 74,000 for Britain as a whole. Relatively little detailed study has been made of the situation in Wales, but although deer populations are known to be increasing there, it is unlikely that so far DVCs in Wales number more than a few hundred per year.

These figures are far from unusual if seen in the context of other countries in Europe and the US. In Germany, reported DVCs regularly exceed 120,000 per year and are estimated by many to actually lie nearer 200,000, while the most recent figures from North America suggest that close to 1.5M DVCs occur there per year, with several States reporting over 70,000 deer collisions.

Introduction

Where and how often do DVCs occur?

The main objective our recent work was to not to determine precise numbers of deer road casualties, but rather to build up a sufficient body of data to enable investigation of regional differences and to identify hot-spots where greatest effort at reducing problems should be targeted.

Mapping of the distribution of data for England (Map 1) shows that at least some DVCs have been recorded in the majority of all 10km OS grid squares. Distribution is most continuous throughout the south east, which is also the area where by far the highest frequencies of DVCs have been recorded (Map 2). Frequency of those DVC reports possible to map with confidence at a finer scale of 5 km by 5 km OS squares enables many major hot-spots to be identified more clearly (Map 3). 

In England the major roads for which the highest numbers of DVCs have been reported during 2003 to 2005 include the A22, A14, M3, A303, A30, A11, M4, M27, A34, A4136 and A4146. The total number of DVC records available for these roads show DVCs ranging from 0.15 - 0.85 per km per year averaged out across the entire length of each road. However, for a number of minor roads, including the B4506, B1106, B2188, B2026, B1393, as well as for specific sections of the above major roads, average recorded deer collision rates rise to near 5 DVC/km. They reach over 10 DVC/km for the A22 near at Ashdown in East Sussex (Table 1).

Map 1

Filled squares shows the distribution of all 10km Ordnance Survey Grid squares for which at least one or more DVC have been reported to the project.  Map 1 shows distribution if including all records for which adequate location details are available for incidents during January 2000 to December 2005.

shows the distribution of all 10km Ordnance Survey Grid squares for which at least one or more DVC

Map 2

Relative frequency of Deer-Vehicle Collisions for Great Britain reported to the project between January 2003 to December 2005. (Based on 17035 reports with adequate location details)

Relative frequency of Deer-Vehicle Collisions for Great Britain reported to the project between January 2003 to December 2005

Map 3

Overview of frequency of Deer-Vehicle collisions in southern England within 5km by 5km grid squares. (based on available records for 2003-2005 with adequate location details for mapping at this scale)

Overview of frequency of Deer-Vehicle collisions in southern England within 5km by 5km grid squares

Table 1

DVC rates recorded for the 40 main roads (class B and above) where the highest average numbers of records are available per year during 2003 - 2005.

The rate of 'reported' DVC per km per year is shown calculated as: a) averaged out across the entire length of that road; and b) the highest rate per km for any one stretch of 5km or longer within each road where rates exceeding 1.0 / km have been logged.

(Note: even these high rates of Deer-Vehicle Collisions represent merely those reported to the study, and true figures are likely to be significantly higher in many cases)

Road Number Total length of route Reported DVCs 2003-2005 Average number DVCs/year DVC per km/year Highest rate/km recorded over any 5km stretch (and location)
A22 83 203 68 0.82 >10/km Ashdown Forest
B4506 11 124 41 3.76 >5/km Ashdown Forest
B2188 17 37 12 0.73 >5/km Ashdown Forest
B4226 9 40 13 1.48 >4/km Forest of Dean
B1106 31 125 42 1.34 >4/km Thetford Forest
A4136 26 67 22 0.86 >4/km Forest of Dean
B2026 28 49 16 0.58 >4/km Ashdown Forest
A134 111 116 39 0.35 >4/km Thetford Forrest
M27 49 113 38 0.77 >3/km So'ton - Portsmouth
A4146 42 50 17 0.40 >3/km nr. Ashridge
A35 159 117 39 0.25 >3/km New Forest
A31 120 70 23 0.19 >3/km New Forest
B1393 10 26 9 0.87 >2/km Epping
A1066 30 60 20 0.67 >2/km Thetford Forrest
B1107 21 37 12 0.59 >2/km Thetford Forrest
A1065 64 112 37 0.58 >2/km Thetford Forrest
A4130 48 47 16 0.33 >2/km nr. Henley
A419 58 50 17 0.29 >2/km nr. Coates
A38 239 114 38 0.16 >1.5/km Halden Hill
A49 228 76 25 0.11 >1.5/km Dinmore Hill
A303 152 140 47 0.31 >1.5/km Andover
M3 96 142 47 0.49 >1.0/km Several (Hants)
A11 111 129 43 0.39 >1.0/km nr.Thetford Forest
A143 118 83 28 0.23 >1.0/km nr.Thetford Forest
M4 310 127 42 0.14 >1.0/km Several (Berkshire)

(average recorded number of DVC/km per annum for all major roads in England = 0.14/km/year)

Where and how often do DVCs occur?

What is the human cost?

Records of Personal Injury Accidents (PIA) arising through direct collisions or swerving as a consequence of trying to avoid deer form an important element of the present study. Information on human injury accidents involving deer in the DVC database to date extends to over 1,150 incidents.

Not all local authorities were able to abstract the relevant data, however we identified 785 different PIAs which specifically mentioned deer as a hazard at the scene of the accident, including 20 that led to human fatalities, 134 to serious injury and 634 causing one or more slight casualties per accident; but even within these counties the figures are likely to present only a proportion of all PIAs involving deer.

The economic 'value of prevention' of that level of PIAs may be calculated as at least £30M for Britain as a whole, of which over 80% may be expected to be incurred within England.

Even that figure is likely to be a conservative estimate, as recent research into the level of under-reporting of all human injury accidents by police demonstrates that although most fatal accidents tend to be recorded in national statistics, serious and slight injury PIAs are likely to be under-reported by factors of 2.5 to 1.7 respectively. This suggests that the actual number of human injury accidents involving deer may well be in excess of 700 each year.

What does the damage to vehicles cost?

Based on extensive claims data provided by one major insurance company we have estimated that around 11,000 privately insured vehicles are likely to suffer significant damage as a result of DVCs in Britain each year. This costs approximately £13.9M in material damage. Inclusion for likely involvement of commercial vehicles at similar frequency and claims costs increase estimates to at least £17M per year.

In addition to material damage there are often further hidden costs such as necessity of hire of replacement vehicles, loss of time and lost output in case of commercial vehicles, for which no allowance has been made in the above estimates.

What is the human cost?

What is the impact on deer welfare?

The vast number of deer injured or killed in traffic incidents every year probably presents the single greatest welfare issue for wild deer in Britain. At an estimated total population in England of around 700,000 deer, the average risk per deer of being involved in one of the estimated 34,000 to 60,000 DVCs may be as high as one in twenty to one in eight. The risk is higher for deer in south east England where traffic density is greatest.

From an animal welfare perspective a more important concern than the overall numbers of deer killed through DVCs are those deer which are not killed instantly through collision, but which instead may suffer for prolonged periods from their injuries until a suitably qualified person can attend to humanely dispatch them.

Many others may run off to suffer or die of their injuries later. Over 3,500 live deer casualties were reported to the project for 2006 alone. Although reporting of live injured deer is likely to be somewhat better than for DVCs in general, it is highly unlikely that even half of all such instances are reported to the study. 

As many as 33% of DVCs involving fallow deer and around 20% of those involving roe and muntjac will tend to leave live casualties needing dispatch at the roadside. Thus the overall toll of severely injured deer which are not killed outright is expected to exceed 8,500 in England and over 10,000 for Britain as a whole.

The total mortality imposed through DVCs in England as a proportion of national population sizes is estimated to lie between 3 to 7% for roe deer, 1 to 3% for red deer and from 7 to 13% for fallow deer, making DVCs almost certainly the major cause of annual mortality among our wild deer, aside from deliberate culls taken as part of management. 

Which deer species are involved?

In England the three most common species involved are fallow (40%), roe (32%), and muntjac (25%), with red, sika, and Chinese water deer contributing less than 3%.  In Scotland, where fallow are far less widespread, roe (69%) and red (25%) are most commonly recorded in DVCs. However, in both England and Scotland the species most commonly associated with localised hot-spots of accident risk is fallow.

Deer crossing the road

What is the impact on deer welfare?

What is the effect of season and time of day?

There is seasonal variation in DVCs, with an overall trend (Figure 1 - see below) but with further variation between species:

Based on those DVC records for which time of incident is recorded most accurately (PIAs), the periods of highest incidence occur from early evening until midnight (1800-2359 hrs) and early morning (0600-0900 hrs). This pattern remains broadly similar across all seasons, though peak accident times tend to occur rather earlier into the evening in winter and later in summer.

Figure 1: Seasonal Variation in the occurrence of Deer Vehicle Collisions in England

Seasonal Variation in the occurrence of Deer Vehicle Collisions in England

What is the effect of season and time of day?

What other factors affect DVCs?

Other factors which may influence frequency and severity of DVCs include driver speed, vehicle type, roadside vegetation, road tortuosity, deer behaviour and the presence or absence of effective mitigation.

In practice, we have only so far been able to reach limited conclusions regarding the effects of these factors from the data recorded. To identify fully the effect of such factors we believe it is essential to investigate individual DVC records, particularly those involving personal injury, to determine in detail the characteristics of the sites where the incidents have occurred.

What other factors affect DVCs?

What is being done to doing to reduce DVCs?

In parallel with our data collection, the deer initiative carried out a comprehensive literature review of the different mitigation measures currently being used in Europe and North America, together with an analysis of effectiveness of the different measures. This report is available online on the Deer Collisions website at www.deercollisions.co.uk/ftp/mit_review.doc. The review considers the entire range of mitigation measures available and patterns of usage, and summarises the conclusions of the various studies which have been undertaken to assess efficacy.

Systematic research into deer mitigation options has nearly all been carried out in North America or continental Europe where the deer species, deer management and traffic situations are often different from Britain. In addition a number of new types of mitigation have recently been brought onto the market including new types of acoustic reflectors, rumble strips and novel types of digital signage activated by animals at the roadside and/or speed of approaching vehicles.

There are now a number of practical trials being carried out in England to evaluate some of these newer forms of deterrent.

What is being done to doing to reduce DVCs?

What more needs to be done?

It is clear from our work so far that DVCs in Britain represent a serious and increasing problem in terms of human injury, the economic costs of damage and the welfare of deer. The deer initiative have for the first time identified the broad overall scale and distribution of DVCs across Britain.

This information will be of greatest use at a local level to the Department for Transport, the Highways Agency and Local Authorities for assessing and prioritising the need for measures to reduce deer accident risk on local roads and the trunk road network.

This is a summary of a report prepared for the Highways Agency by the Deer Initiative. The full report can be found at www.deercollisions.co.uk . The Deer Initiative gratefully acknowledge the contribution made by our Partner organisations, other agencies and individuals, details of which may be found in the full report.

The Deer Initiative is a broad partnership of statutory, voluntary and private interests dedicated to ensuring the delivery of a sustainable, well-managed wild deer population in England and Wales. For further details contact:

The Deer Initiative
0870 774 3677
http://www.thedeerinitiative.co.uk/index.htm

admin@thedeerinitiative.co.uk

Night vision view of deers on our road

What more needs to be done?

Raising awareness of the dangers posed by deer on the road - DeerAware

Poster for Deer CampaignDeerAware was launched in 2009 with the Deer Initiative to increase awareness amongst the public of the risk of vehicle collisions with deer. The need for this was highlighted by the results of the Deer Vehicle Collisions (DVC) project which was conducted to investigate the risks posed by deer to road users. It is estimated that in the UK there are up to 74000 DVCs a year, and between the years 2000 and 2005, there were 20 people killed and 134 seriously injured.

A toolkit to help make drivers aware has been produced and made freely available through the Deer Initiative, intended for use by local and national road safety organisations. The material contains a combination of artwork, radio adverts and website banner. The choice of different products has been chosen to allow for seasonal and regional differences.

This is also demonstrated by the radio adverts which are of varying length and have seasonal differences to allow for a more focused local campaign. The radio commercials that are voiced by the well known presenter John Craven also give advice on when it is most likely that you will encounter a deer and what you should do if you see one in the road. All the material has been designed so when used as part of a local initiative they serve as a reminder to drivers that deer are active in their area and for the need to be vigilant to avoid a collision or reduce the severity if one does occur.

The local application of the material allows it to be used in areas where DVCs are more of a problem allowing for a greater relevance to drivers. All the products are freely available to be used and can be downloaded for free or requested by calling or e-mailing the Highways Agency Information Line (0300 123 5000 and HA_info@highways.gsi.gov.uk).

Multimedia

HA Posters

Posters

Sticker

Flash Web Banner

John Craven Audio

Fact Sheets

Useful Links

Raising awareness of the dangers posed by deer on the road - DeerAware